12/23/2025
Breastfeeding as contraceptive? 👀
Have you been told that breastfeeding works as a natural contraceptive? It's true, but there are conditions. The Lactational Amenorrhea Method (LAM) is about 98% effective at preventing pregnancy if all three of these criteria are met:
1. You must be exclusively or 90% exclusively breastfeeding on demand, day and night.
2. You must be less than 6 months postpartum.
3. Your menstrual cycle must not have returned.
Why does it work? Because breastfeeding your baby naturally suppresses hormones that would result in ovulation and the return of your menstrual cycle! It's nature's way of promoting spacing between children.
Where does it go wrong? When any of the criteria are no longer met, your hormones begin to shift and ovulation can begin. If you're supplementing, not breastfeeding overnight, more than 6 months postpartum, or your cycle has returned, then this method is unreliable at best. It's also important to note that lactational amenorrhea's success rate is only studied with latching directly to the breast, not pumping.
Before you trust LAM to prevent pregnancy, ask yourself:
- Do I meet all of the criteria?
- What if I'm the 2% that does conceive?
- Am I cool with supplementing my baby during pregnancy?
If you absolutely do not want to conceive, your safest bet is to add another method of contraceptive. 😅
